Still moving!

Well, although I've been noticeably absent from this blog, I've still been trying to eat right and exercise!

I was recently called to the Relief Society presidency in my ward, and between meetings, working overtime, and school, well, you know....

The good news is that I'm praying for a reduction in my workload and continuing to exercise, even if it's 10 PM when I get home. My motivation? One of my friends recently ran a half marathon at Disneyworld. I want a Donald Duck medal!

My husband promised to take me to Disneyworld if I could do a half marathon in a "reasonable" amount of time. I'm shooting for three hours. So far, I've increased my treadmill work from 2.5 MPH for 10 minutes to 3.2 MPH for 33 minutes. I have a long way to go, but I have a year.

My efforts have been paying off. Four pounds so far. Not thrilling, but a start. All you need is a start....

Daily Journal - Physical

By Randy McNeely

Made it up again. Keeping on. Did upper body workout - push ups, and several exercises with resistance bands, along with jogging for 30 seconds in between exercises.

I feel better every time I exercise.

Daily Journal - Physical

By Randy McNeely

Week 3 - Day 1

Last week was a bit of a challenge. Still, I lost two pounds even though I did a lot of shoveling and was not able to do my regular workouts.

I was up and at it early today. I got my regular leg and stomach workout in.

Question for the day - does anyone out there have a favorite healthy recipe they's like to share? I'd love to add some more to the Recipes page.

Committed!

One of the keys to success in any project is commitment. So, I've been getting committed all over the place....

No, not the psych ward, although at times this week, it was a possibility! Committed to weight loss. What did I do? A few simple things.....

I bought a much more difficult workout game for the Wii, which not only weighs you, but tracks your measurements, tracks your calories, and notes when you exercise. It asks you to commit to a program, and I chose to work out 6 days a week.

I was asked to select a product to review on my blog, and I chose a portable step machine. I plan to keep it in my office for stress relief and to get in a little exercise. I have to use it, or I can't do the review--committed again.

At work, the nurse has begun a "Biggest Loser" contest. There are 12 of us, and our entry fee is a $10 gift card. Whoever has lost the biggest percentage each week will get the gift card of his or her choice.

Thanks to Randy, I'm now committing myself in public. Finally, I've also committed to myself and my family... the most important people of all.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Day Three

By Randy McNeely

Made it up again today. Ugh. I'm tired. Or at least I was. Now I feel pretty good.

Half hour of exercise consisting of stretching, jogging in place (with a few aerobic moves thrown in that would look ridiculous to you if you could have seen them), and riding a stationary bike for just a bit over a mile.

Daily Journal - Physical- Two Days in a Row!

By Randy McNeely

Quick Journal Entry

Tuesday Jan 4, 2010

Up at 5:00. I had a real mind over mattress battle, but I won! Yea for me.

The purpose of this entry is to explain what a little bit about what I'm doing for me on a daily basis. Don't worry, all the entries won't be this long.

I've worked out a schedule that works for me. I recommend everyone find what works for them and stick to it.

For me, I'll be working my legs and stomach on Mondays, my upper body on Tuesdays, and doing aerobic exercises on Wednesdays. Then I'll start the cycle again for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Yesterday (Monday) I exercised for half an hour.

What I do every day to start out with is stretching. I found that for me this helps me get warmed up for the real exercising. I start by jogging in place for 1 minute then I go into the stretching. I do exercises to stretch my back, legs, arms and calves.

Then I go into the exercises. I do a workout designed for both weight loss and muscle strengthening. It combines both aerobic exercise (jogging in place between the main exercises) and specific exercises for specific muscle groups. The workout came with the Bodylastics resistance bands I purchased a couple of years ago.

I don't have a lot of time to go into the exercises here, but I will try to get more detail later this week.

Bottom line, yesterday I worked my legs by doing squats and reverse leg thrusts. Then I worked my abbs and lower back by doing back extensions (laying on your stomach, stretching your arms over your head, and lifting your arms and legs off the floor at the same time), bended knee crunches, leg raises, and full body sit ups. After stretching and before doing squats, I jogged in place for 30 seconds. I also do that in between the squats and reverse thrusts and the back extensions. The back extensions and other exercises are all done in succession without jogging in between.

Today I did the usual stretching. Then I did pushups and several upper body exercises using the Bodylastics resistance bands.

Two days down. I feel great!